1909-1911 T206 White Borders Partial Set (376 of 524)

65% range from Vg to Vg-Ex (including a few Ex), 20% range from Fr to Gd-Vg (averaging Good), 15% lesser. This partial set of T206 White Borders is comprised of 376 of the 524 cards in the set (72% complete). This T206 partial set is highlighted by 51 Hall of Famers (out of 74 in the set), including Ty Cobb, Cy Young, Nap Lajoie, Christy Mathewson, and Walter Johnson, as well as numerous other highlights including the rare Elberfeld (portrait) Washington team variation and 32 of the 48 scarce Southern League series cards. This is an original "childhood" collection that has remained untouched since assembled in 1910, and has been saved by the family of the original owner. The 376 cards in this lot represent the best condition example of each different T206 card in the larger collection of almost 1,000 T206 cards. (The duplicates from the collection are offered as a separate lot in this auction.) This original-owner collection is extremely pleasing and would be an ideal foundation for the building of a very attractive low- to mid-grade complete set. Vintage cards in general, and T206s in particular, have a special charm in circulated condition, and also represent a tremendous value compared to higher-grade examples. A large group of T206, or a complete set, in the offered grade is a particularly hot commodity, always extremely desirable to collectors, offering the most classic 1910-era baseball-card set without requiring the hundreds of thousands, or millions, of dollars that a higher-grade set would cost. Even in low to mid grade a T206 set runs into real money, a function of there being so many cards in the set and so many highlights (HOFers, etc.), but is of interest to and within the reach of so many more collectors. When it comes time to sell, a T206 set in any grade can be sold as a unit, or easily be broken up, providing a "built-in insurance policy." T206s are never going out of style and it is always a privilege to offer a complete set or a very substantial start towards one. We have selected twenty cards to be graded and encapsulated by SGC. The key cards (including fifty-one Hall of Famers) grade as follows: Beckley (Vg), Bender/no trees (Gd, Old Mill back), Bender/trees (Pr), Bender/port. (Gd), Bresnahan/port. (Gd-Vg), Bresnahan/bat (SGC VG 40), G. Brown/Wash. (Pr), Brown/Chi. (Fr), Brown/Cubs (Pr), Brown/port. (Gd-Vg), Chance/red (SGC VG 40), Chase/trophy (Vg, Old Mill back), Chase/blue (Vg), Chase/pink (Vg), Chase/white cap (Vg-Ex), Chesbro (SGC VG 40), Cicotte (“Black Sox”, Vg), Clarke/bat (Pr), Clarke/port. (Vg), Cobb/green (SGC FAIR 20), Collins/Phila. (SGC VG 40), Collins/Minn. (Gd), Crawford/bat (Pr), G. Davis (SGC VG 40), Doyle/N.Y. (Pr), Duffy (Pr), Elberfeld/port. - Wash (SGC VG 40), Evers/port. (SGC GOOD 30), Evers/Chi. (Gd), Evers/Cubs (SGC VG/EX 50), Flick (Vg), Griffith/port. (SGC EX 60), Huggins/hands (Vg), Huggins/port. (Gd-Vg), Jennings/port. (Fr), Johnson/port. (SGC VG 40), Joss/port. (SGC VG/EX 50), Keeler/bat (SGC VG 40), Kelley (SGC VG/EX 50), Lajoie/throw (SGC VG 40), Marquard/hands at thighs (Gd-Vg), Marquard/port. (Gd), Mathewson/dark cap (SGC VG/EX 50), Mathewson/port. (Gd), McGinnity (Vg), McGraw/finger (Fr), McGraw/no cap (SGC VG/EX 50), Speaker (SGC VG 40), Tinker/bat off (Vg, Old Mill back), Tinker/knees (Pr), Tinker/port. (SGC VG 40), Waddell/throwing (Vg-Ex), Wallace (Pr), Walsh (Vg), Willis/Pitts. (Vg), Willis/throw (Gd), Young/hand (Fr), and Young/port. (SGC FAIR 20). The backs are almost all Piedmont, but also included are a few Old Mill. Cards needed for completion: The 148 missing cards for completion include Wagner, Plank, Magie, and Doyle (the "big 4"), as well as the following key cards (the balance are all commons): Baker, Chance/bat, Chance/yellow, Clarke/port., Cobb/red, Cobb/bat off, Cobb/bat on, Crawford/throw, Dahlen/Brooklyn, Demmitt/St. Louis, Griffith/bat, Huggins/one hand, Huggins/both hands, Johnson/hands at chest, Joss/hands at chest, Keeler/port., Kleinow/Bost., Lundgren/Chi., Lajoie/port., Lajoie/bat, Marquard/throwing, Mathewson/white cap, McGraw/glove, McGraw/cap, O'Hara/St. Louis, Smith/Chic.& Bos., Tinker/bat on, Waddell/port., Wheat, Willis/bat, and Young/glove. This is a very attractive mixed-grade partial set of the 1910 era's most classic tobacco-card issue, which has remained in the family of the original owner who actually collected these cards in 1910. The equivalent SMR value for just the twenty SGC-graded cards (not including the 356 ungraded cards) is $5,085. Total 376 cards. Reserve $5,000. Estimate $10,000+. SOLD FOR $15,275

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